Hardcoded Online by April O'Malley

Author:April O'Malley [O'Malley, April]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-09-01T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 15: GOD OF DEATH

Loden rested his head on the ground and let the sleep take him. It passed in the blink of an eye but his stamina had been replenished to a manageable level.

“You good?” Robin asked.

“As good as I can be, given the circumstances,” he answered.

“It will have to do, time is not our friend,” PrettyKitty said.

Loden rolled his shoulders and titled his neck. “We stay together in there. Anything we don’t like the look of, we kill.”

They all nodded.

He rose slowly to his feet, his body bubbling with aches “Let’s move.”

They stepped into Mount Vesper once more. All was quiet and still. It was, in many ways, what Loden imagined the capital city of hell would look like. Both grand and monstrous in every sense. The molten rock was carved with ancient inscriptions that looked like they had been written by demons at the brink of a gruesome death.

“I hate this place,” Robin whispered.

No one answered. He had spoken the mind of every one of them.

On and on they walked without a single disturbance.

“How do we know we are headed the right way?” PrettyKitty asked.

“We don’t,” Loden answered, “We just walk and hope.”

Rumblecore was the quietest of the party. He had already seen the vampire. He knew what they were up against.

They stepped into a broad open area that had all the makings of an abandoned demon market. Loden narrowed his eyes. Great mosaics on the wall depicted scenes of torture and turmoil fit to turn the stomach. Here and there were the remains of men or beasts that had served as supper in this dishonorable chamber. A large statue of Lord Unoloch stood at the center of the room, his giant sword scraping the roof.

This was where the skellies had taken their sinful pleasure before they left to stalk the night. Loden could only imagine the horror of the place when it was at full occupancy.

“What’s that?” Rumblecore whispered, pointing towards the far corner of the hall.

Loden turned to see for himself.

His heart stopped. There, barely visible in the flickering lantern light, at the center of the clearing was the end of a staircase. Loden straightened. It was sure to lead them to the second level.

“That was easier than expected,” said Robin.

Loden wasn’t convinced. Nothing in this level was easy. The seeming ease of their trip to the staircase only heightened his sense of dread.

Sure enough, as they took steps forward to approach the staircase, the hall trembled. Loden immediately glanced at the ceiling, but there were no stalactites in this cavern.

Sabre gave a low grumbling growl and shifted to stand in front of Loden, crouched low, with muscles bulging about the shoulders.

The sound of footsteps on the staircase sounded.

“Weapons ready,” Loden growled.

They didn’t need him to tell them.

They watched with intent eyes to see what new horror would alight from the stairs. Whatever it was, it was taking its sweet time.

Loden’s heart quickened as the silhouette of the thing came into the light. It was a necromancer.

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